HIS 3230-001 Modern Germany TR 2:30-3:45 pm
CRN 40259 Dr. Johnson
General description: This lecture-discussion course will examine some of the principal interactions between society, politics, and culture that have shaped modern Germany from the revolutionary era of the mid-nineteenth century to its reunification at the end of the twentieth century. The Germans played a central role in the recurring crises of European development during this period, most notoriously in the era of Hitler's Third Reich culminating in the Second World War and the Holocaust. We will focus on these crises' causes and consequences.
Organization: The course will be divided into five chronological parts:
1. The German states from revolutions to empire, 1848-1871
2. Imperial Germany, 1871-1918
3. The Weimar Republic, 1918-1933
4. The Third Reich, 1933-1945
5. Cold War: the two Germanies, 1945-1990
Coursework: Written work will include a 5-page take-home paper (25%), a midterm in-class essay (25%), and a final essay examination (25%), as well as some short essays reacting to the readings (10%, to be included in your class participation grade). The participation grade (25%) will also be based on general class discussions as well as one oral report by each student, related to the topic of your take-home paper.
Course readings will include books plus some short selections of sources (on reserve or WebCT) to illustrate historical issues such as culture and sexuality in the Weimar Republic. The following is the updated list of books that have been ordered for purchase:
Mary Fulbrook, Concise History of Germany. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, Feb. 2004. ISBN: 0-521-54071-2 (Paper Text) USD 21.99
Hans J. Hahn, The 1848 Revolutions in German-speaking Europe. White Plains: Longman Publishing Group; Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education [Distributor], 2001. ISBN: 0-582-35765-9 (Trade Paper) USD 25.00
Erich M. Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front. New York: Fawcett [Imprint]; Ballantine Books; Westminster: Random House, Incorporated [Distributor], Sept. 1996. ISBN: 0-449-91149-7 (Trade Paper) USD 13.95
Belinda J. Davis, Home Fires Burning: Food, Politics and Everyday Life in World War I Berlin. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000; ISBN: 0-807-84837-9 (paper-corrected from on-line listing) USD 24.95
Victor Klemperer, Language of the Third Reich: LTI New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, Inc., 2002. ISBN: 0-826-45777-0 (Trade Paper) USD 29.95 (a classic by a German Jew who survived the Nazis and the bombing of Dresden)
Ulrich Plenzdorf et al., The New Sufferings of Young W.: And Other Stories from the German Democratic Republic. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, Inc., 1997. ISBN: 0-826-40952-0 (Trade Paper) USD 19.95. (German Library Ser.; Vol. 87)
We will also have the opportunity to view some classic films, including the infamous Nazi propaganda film "Triumph of the Will."